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Online vape sellers failing to comply with regulations to stop kids from buying products

By
SWNS
Published Nov. 12, 2024, 3:04 p.m. ET

Online vape sellers are failing to comply with regulations to stop children buying their products, warns a new report.

Researchers found that online e-cigarette retailers are not consistently adhering to laws aimed at preventing the sale of vaping products to youngsters.

Regulations on age verification, shipping methods and flavor restrictions are all being ignored, according to the American report.

Researchers asked 16 people to buy flavored vape products online and have them delivered to their homes in the County of San Diego, California.

Of 156 attempted transactions 73% were processed and 67% were delivered.

Just 1% of buyers had their IDs scanned while more than three out of four buyers (78%) reported no interaction with delivery personnel.

Vape teenagers
Online vape sellers are failing to comply with regulations to stop children buying their products. Shutterstock / Aleksandr Yu

Three out of 20 buyers (15%) spoke with delivery personnel but did not have their IDs checked.

And 6% of buyers had their IDs checked but not scanned, according to the findings published in the journal JAMA.

Sale restrictions on flavored tobacco were introduced in eight U.S. states and 392 cities or counties in March this year, but some of these do not cover e-commerce. 

For example, the 2022 California Senate Bill (SB) 793 prohibited the sale of flavored tobacco products but left e-commerce restrictions ambiguous.

Due to the ambiguity in California law, the research team aimed to test differences in compliance with local tobacco e-commerce ordinances. 

a man displays his Juul electronic cigarette
Regulations on age verification, shipping methods and flavor restrictions are all being ignored, according to the American report. AP

Eight buyers were from the City of San Diego, where an ordinance restricts the sale of flavored tobacco products, including online sales. 

The other eight were from other County of San Diego communities, which do not have the same restrictions. Delivery did not differ significantly between buyers in the two jurisdictions.

The online purchases also violated the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act, a federal law prohibiting the use of the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship vaping products and requires both age verification and scanning identifications on delivery.

Dr Eric Leas, of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California, San Diego, said: “There are longstanding surveillance systems in place that help implement laws at brick-and-mortar stores, but we do not have a system in place for online retailers.

woman vaping
Sale restrictions on flavored tobacco were introduced in eight U.S. states and 392 cities or counties in March this year, but some of these do not cover e-commerce.  William Lailey SWNS

“The results of this study highlight the need for greater oversight and enforcement of online tobacco retailers.

“Online sales of e-cigarettes are the largest and fastest growing sector of the tobacco industry.

“We need to evaluate tobacco retail policies and ensure they cover e-commerce and monitor the market to improve implementation.”

In a 2023 study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, Dr Leas reported that following the implementation of SB-793, online shopping queries were 194% higher than expected for cigarettes and 162% higher than expected for vape products.

As a result, to strengthen state tobacco oversight programs — including online sales of flavored tobacco products, California lawmakers recently approved SB-1230, citing Dr Leas’ Tobacco Control study. 

The law is due to come into effect on January 1, 2025.

Dr Leas added: “This research is piloting a system for monitoring online compliance that local health departments could mimic as a routine surveillance system to strengthen the implementation of public health laws designed to reduce the sale of tobacco products to minors.”